hamilton



W. B. HAMILTON.

Lock-Box Cover.

Patented Mar. 2,1880.

F h Q. WW I 1 W o/ my N-FETERS. FHOTG-LITNOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. 0 0

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

WILLIAM B. HAMILTON, or HYDE PARK, ILLINOIS, AssIeNOn TO JEssIE M.

. HAMILTON, OF SAME PLAoE.

LOCK-BOX COVER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 225,123, dated March 2, 1880.

Application filed December 5, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. HAMILTON, of Hyde Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Lock-Box Cover for Shut-Off Cocks on Water and Gas Pipes; and

' 1 do hereby declare that the following is afull,

clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to understand and make use of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a view, looking from above, of a box-top with the cover closed; Fig. 2, a view of the same with the hinged cover thrown open, showing the arrangement of my improved locking device; Fig. 3, a vertical crosssection in the plane 00 00, Fig 1; and Fig. 4, a vertical cross-section in the plane y 11 Fig. 2.

The object of this invention is the construction of an improved device for securing or looking the tops or covers of the street-boxes inclosing the shut-off cocks of water and gas pipes, the exact arrangement and construction of which will hereinafter be more fully explained in detail.

Heretofore corporations have been greatly annoyed by mischievously-disposed persons, and more especially children, opening the loose covers of these street-boxes and filling them with all kinds of convenient debris, and which, as a matter of necessity, had to be removed, requiring considerable time and labor cover B by means of the vertical stem a, which extends upward through the cover B, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings.

The stem a, as herein shown, is formed with square ends, the lower end forming the axis for the movement of the latch G, and the upper end coming up on a level with the outside surface of the cover B, the parts surrounding the upper end of the stem at being cast with a countersink or depression, in order to admit of a hollow key or socket-wrench engaging with the stem at, for the purpose of locking and unlocking the cover B.

Formed integral with the latch O, and extending upward therefrom, is a pivot point or projection,D, which, when the parts are locked together, engages with the under side of the lip-like projection a, which is cast on or attached to the inside of the box-top A, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The under surface of the lip a, with which the pivot-point D is made to engage, has an oblique angle in relation to the square of the box-top, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, adapting the locking parts to wedge together.

By having a small or pivot point projecting at right angles from the latch 0, instead of a large or flat surface, and the under side of the lip a being wedge-shaped, the locking parts are not so liable to be affected by rust and become stuck together.

The stem a should be made of brass or other material not subject to corrosion, and all the locking parts maybe composed of similar material, should practical working so require.

I do not confine or limit myself to the construction of a square end for the operatingstem of the locking parts, but may adopt any right angles therefrom, adapting the same to oblique angle relative to the impinging-point engage with the under side of the lip a, as D, and the box-top A, arranged and operating herein set forth. as and for the purpose set forth. Y

2. The c01nbinati0n,with the operating-stem WILLIAM B. HAMILTON. 5 a and the latch 0, provided with the conical Witnesses:

locking-point D of the lip-projection a, havv L. B. OOUPLAND,

ing the under side or bearing-surface set at an W. A. SCHONFELD. 

